oy; but--but it's
hard."

Early next morning, before the Mistress appeared, the Master took a
leash in his hand, and set out with Finn from the poor house that
sheltered them, in the dingy quarter of the town where they lived.
They walked for two miles through sunlit spacious streets, and then
they came to the house of the doctor. The Master waited in the
hall, and the doctor came to see him there, a finger napkin in his
hands.

"Doctor," said the Master; "I want the address of that rich patient
of yours who is fond of animals."

"Ah! Yes, I thought you would," answered the doctor. "Just step in
here a moment, and I will give you a note for Mr. Sandbrook. If you
are going there right away, you will certainly be sure of catching
him in."

It was nearly an hour later that the Master and Finn reached the
entrance to a beautiful garden, in the centre of which stood a big,
picturesque house, with windows overlooking the sparkling waters of
a great harbour. The house had only one storey above the ground
floor, and its walls rambled over a large expanse of ground. All
round the house, with its deep, shady verandahs, spread a host of
ever-diminishing satellites, in the form of outbuildings of one
kind and another; extensive stabling, coach-houses, wood and coal
lodges, laundry, tool-sheds, workmen's living-rooms, and so forth.

The Master and Finn were kept waiting for some time, and were
seated on the verandah when Mr. Sandbrook, the portly broker,
merchant, and shipping agent, came to them. Finn was lying
stretched at his full great length on the cedar-wood planks of the
verandah, fore-legs far out before him, head carried high, his big,
dark eyes fixed lovingly on the Master's face. Mr. Sandbrook was a
good-natured, kindly soul, very prosperous and very vain, and
little accustomed to deny himself anything which his quickly
roaming little grey eyes desired. As these eyes of his fell upon
Finn, they told him that this was the most magnificent dog he had
ever seen; the handsomest dog in Australia; as indeed Finn was,
easily, and without a doubt.

And then the merchant shook hands with the Master, and read the
note from the doctor.

"I don't know, I'm sure, what made the doctor think I wanted
another dog," he said; "but this is certainly a noble animal of
yours, Mr.----er."

And then the Master showed him Finn's printed pedigree, with one or
two newspaper descriptions of the Wolfhound, and a list of his
championshi